An enlarged version of Airbus SE’s famously bulbous Beluga wing transporter is set to make its debut flight in the middle of the year after the first plane was rolled off the assembly line.
The aircraft, named for its resemblance to the dome-headed, hunch-backed white whale of the Arctic, is awaiting the installation of its two engines before starting ground tests, with work on a second underway, Airbus said Tuesday.
The Beluga XL will feature the same low-slung cockpit as the original version developed two decades ago from the A300 model, allowing the front of the plane above it to